


Sensitive

by softgrungeprophet



Category: Venom (Comics)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Food, I LOVE food lmfao, Mild Language, Nausea, Other, Pet Names, Sharing a Body, Sickfic, Teasing, as is to be expected lol, hand-holding, honestly if you're surprised at this point... idk what to tell you, noodle venom, petting, sharing food, the non-sexual kind lfmao, the symbiote is overly dramatic sometimes, they're on a date :)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-19 17:30:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16539065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softgrungeprophet/pseuds/softgrungeprophet
Summary: Date night goes a little south when the symbiote gets... a cold?





	Sensitive

**Author's Note:**

> I did put the nausea tag in and even though there are no descriptions of vomiting, I figured I would make a little note here too. Eddie gets pretty nauseous for a second after he washes his hands, but then it's fine, but if you're sensitive to that kinda stuff I just wanted to make sure you know.

It had been a while since they'd seen a movie together. Between rising prices and the lack of free time, well. Eddie couldn't remember the last time the two of them had sat together, smack in the center of an empty theater in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday, fingers twined together as the lights dimmed. Nothing like it. Caressing hands (sappy), whispering to each other in the darkness (also sappy).

But it seemed... less comfortable now.

Not a huge problem. Eddie's body acted as a buffer for external noise, even as his ears and brain interpreted the low frequency ranges, relaying the information to his other. Well, low-frequency for a Klyntar. Normal for Eddie. Booming through his ribs, his feet. Still, the symbiote seemed... uncomfortable. Retracted down into the depths of his blood vessels, his guts, his brain tissue. It wasn't so bad, but it wasn't great either. And now his hand felt cold, and lonely.

Had movie theaters always been this loud?

Surround sound rumbles thrummed through his bones, pressing the symbiote deeper into the porosity of his cells—it clung tightly. Not pain, just thoroughly irritated, on edge, sour.

Alright.

Eddie got up to leave, and as he approached the exit, putting the noise behind him, his other shifted. It bubbled to the surface of his skin, facing away from the speakers of the theater, not exactly trying to escape but restless for some reprieve. Finally, the door shut behind them with a heavy thud and all the audio faded into an ambient moviescape, from all the theaters lined up down the hall. And the distant sound of popcorn popping and advertisements shrill on the concession flatscreens.

V sank into his skin with what felt like a sigh, physical and loose.

"I thought it was forty kilos, huh?"

He could feel the distasteful grumble that spread through his body. He knew it was kilohertz, and the symbiote knew he knew, and that he did it to ruffle its hypothetical feathers.

 **Decibels too, Eddie. You know that**.

Eddie quieted his voice—not that it really mattered, not that he even needed to speak out loud. "Of course, my love." He pulled his leather jacket tight around him. "We prefer soft and low, don't we?"

**Making fun of me.**

Oh, but he couldn't help it.

"I'm sorry."

A young girl passed them with a shriek of laughter, a friend hot on her tail, and the symbiote bristled with annoyance. Eddie ran his hands together, a gesture of reassurance to the being  beneath his skin, and he took them out into the rest of the world. Bright daylight, not dark, always a little disorienting even though they'd spent all of thirty minutes in the movie theater's night-like atmosphere. Eddie's stomach growled. The feedback loop of their mind amplified his hunger, combined it with the symbiote's nibbling desire, turned it all around, buried it in his brain—

"Alright, alright, we'll go eat." He grumbled but he'd been wanting an excuse to eat out, anyway. It was so rare to have extra money for... nice things. Like Thai food.

Pad see-ew with beef (of course), and swimming angel (with tofu, just cause it seemed right), and a side of extra peanut sauce, and they sold chocolate flavored milk tea at this place, so he ordered that as well. And there was a special with ground chicken _and_ a fried egg, so... Hell, why not.

If the server looked at him a little funny, he pretended not to notice. He was _starving_.

V got the peanut sauce all to itself, when that came. Careful not to eat the bowl, and careful not to be seen licking it clean from under the folds of Eddie's jacket, but delighted with its treat. As for everything else, Eddie ate... most of it on his own. Maybe he shared the milk tea, just a little—not like he could help it. The symbiote just made an itty bitty mouth for itself on the tip of his tongue and stole a sip anytime it wanted. He tried to bite the symbiote, but of course he just bit his own damn tongue.

"You little shit." But his voice held no real ire, even as he sucked on his wound.

It tittered in the back of his brain, and the pain disappeared.

When was the last time they'd done anything like this? Been so carefree? Happy, even.

 **Eddie**.

He hummed at it.

**Sad?**

"No, love."

He glanced around to make sure no one looked their way, and cupped the fried egg in his hands. Rude table manners, and unsanitary, but... the things he did for love, huh? With an almost-smile, he moved it close, and a tendril unraveled itself from his shoulder, snapping out like a weird deep-sea creature or something. Goodbye egg. Its tongue swiped at his palm and fingertips, for any little bits of crispy white or runny yolk that remained. And then Eddie _did_ smile, just a little bit, as the symbiote sank back into the muscles between his neck and shoulder.

 **Yummy-yummy in our tummy**.

Eddie snorted into his fist.

Then he grimaced. Symbiote saliva was by no means _clean_. It reeked, in fact, and bad enough that he left his booth seat for the bathroom,  accompanied by much grumbling from the spaces between his own thoughts. A running series of complaints— **[We smell wonderful, Eddie]** and **[Sad you don't appreciate us cleaning our hands for you]** and **[We lick our hands clean because we love Eddie.]**

It stopped its incessant chattering, then, suddenly, as if it hadn't intended to say that. Was it embarrassed?

He prodded for... what? Further admission? As if it had never told him it loved him (it had).

The symbiote shrunk away from his mental probes, _definitely_ embarrassed, and half-articulated something about liking the way his skin tasted, just that, not anything deep or affectionate, just tasty. Really. No other reason.

Eddie leaned against the bathroom counter. He pushed his thoughts back into the symbiote's again, though, and spoke aloud. "I love you too."

He turned the knobs so water came spraying out—impressive water pressure, and impressive water _heater_. The sink steamed and he scrubbed his hands hard and he muttered, just barely audible over the sound of the sink, "But your spit stinks."

**Eddiiiiieeeeee!**

He grinned.

Then— **Eddie! Hot!**

Eddie jerked his hands back from the water. It didn't seem that hot... He stared at his palms, water still running. But his other hissed inside of him, so he turned off the sink and dried his hands.

"Hey..." He furrowed his brow. "You okay?"

 **We feel... strange**.

A wave of nausea rolled through Eddie's entire body, just awful and all-encompassing, and he found himself gripping the sink counter just to stay upright. He managed one word, "Darling," before he had to stop and just breathe through his nose, focused hard on the inflation and deflation of his lungs, legs trembling, neck tingling, saliva pooling beneath his tongue—but then it stopped, just as suddenly as it had come on. He was fine, if shaken. He rested his forehead against the edge of the sink.

Finally—"What the _hell_ was that?"

**Sorry, sorry, sorry—**

"Shh..." Eddie managed to straighten himself up, turning his eyes up to the mirror. God, he looked like shit. Flushed and sweaty. Venom's reflection superimposed over his own didn't seem much better off. It lacked shape, somehow, sagging and matte. Still apologizing in the recesses of his mind. "Hey... Hey, it's okay." He pressed his palm to the glass, and black tendrils sprouted along his fingers and the back of his hand.

Drier than usual.

**Eddie...**

Something else there, layered over the usual plaintive, needy murmur.

It was afraid.

Eddie paid as quick as he could; barely even managed to bundle up their few leftovers before half sprinting out of the restaurant. The tinkle of the bell echoed cheerfully in his ears, mixing with ringing concern.

No, he needed to be level-headed about this. Careful, thoughtful.

Dr. Steven.

But he wasn't allowed there anymore...

But Venom considered him _family_.

"Shit." Eddie ran his hands back through his hair. " _Shit_."

He needed to calm down.

A slender tendril caressed his face, soothing but... weak. He put his hand over it, felt its unusual heat, and felt the symbiote's barely suppressed fear. It needed him, needed his strength and encouragement. And that settled it. Not like breaking and entering was any worse than _murder_ , and Eddie sure had done a fair bit of the latter.

They nearly gave Dr. Steven a heart attack (figuratively speaking) when they stepped from the shadows of the lab into his path.

"You—" He took a steadying breath, hand to his chest, and said, "Don't scare me like that."

"We need help."

The doctor—astrobiologist—frowned, but he waved Eddie over to a stool beside a workbench and looked at him expectantly.

Everything, all the worry, wanted to come pouring out but Eddie kept it to short, clipped sentences. Terse, tense, his fingers tapping restlessly on his knee until his other stilled him even as it radiated anxiety and exhaustion and confusion.

They let Eddie be poked and prodded, temperature taken—"I'm really not a medical doctor, Mr. Brock; I don't know how often I have to say it." But still, he worked carefully, with great precision, goading the symbiote out just enough to get a good look and take a tiny sample. The little bit of flesh withered in his palm.

Finally, after what felt like hours, several eternities, Dr. Steven simply smiled.

Eddie scowled at him. "What."

"I think... I think you have a cold."

**Ridiculous!!! Tell him he's wrong, Eddie! We must be dying!**

After all that... the corner of Eddie's mouth twitched, and he let his forehead come to a rest in his palm. "A cold." He sighed. "Like... what, like a head cold?"

"Close enough."

**Dying, Eddie!**

_Drama queen_.

"You'll be totally fine. Just get some rest, drink plenty of fluids, all the usual stuff." Steven paused. Thought for a second. "Maybe try some extra supplements? See if that helps you feel better faster. Maybe a humidifier."

Could they afford to buy a humidifier?

Actually, yes. A shitty, cheap one, but it did the job.

The hard part, it turned out, was getting his other to rest. Sure, he could just lay down. But the symbiote never stopped... even while Eddie slept, it would process his emotions and dreams and their surroundings and chances of danger and so on and so forth, unending—

" _Darling_."

A disgruntled trill tickled the back of his neck.

"You're supposed to be resting."

Stubborn refusal. And just yesterday it had insisted it was dying. What a pain in the ass.

He needed to try a different approach. Lying in bed had, so far, proved fruitless, and mostly just made Eddie's shoulders and back sore. There had to be something, though. Anything.

**Hungry.**

"You're not gonna make me puke again?"

Cause that had been a _great_ way to end breakfast.

 **...No promises**.

Eddie sighed. Something light, then. No heavy meats or ice cream. Just... scrambled eggs? He felt for a response and got mild acceptance. Alright, scrambled eggs it was. Just a pinch of salt, eggs whipped with plain water, as little oil in the pan as possible, not too soft and not too firm. Fine. A little boring, but fine. They shared it, Eddie eating some, and the symbiote settling gently along his arm to steal bites. And a bottle of Gatorade, afterward. Electrolytes—very important. Especially after their morning in the bathroom.

**Lay down?**

Might as well. But first, Eddie pulled his shirt off—he was hot, but not like a fever. Just hot. And anyway, he slept naked most nights. Why not during the day? Also, why was he trying to justify it to himself? He sat on his shitty old mattress and, at a nudge from his symbiote, reached for the remote. V seemed content to watch anything, so he left the channel where it was, just lowering the volume to a comfortable, barely audible murmur that blended with the hum of the refrigerator and the new ambience of their humidifier.

They lay down together, Eddie on his side and the symbiote pulling vines of itself out of his skin to wrap around him. It rested a blunt, mouthless head on his shoulder, eyespots narrowed in the light of the TV, and shivered. It was a weird sensation. A sweep of brief bristling rigidity that moved down its tendrils and shoots from nose to tip, and then dissipated. Eddie reached up to cup its face in his palm. It pushed back affectionately, hot to the touch and smooth, not quite as slick as it should have been.

He let his thoughts still.

Focused simply on the rise and fall of his own chest and the gentle pulsing of symbiotic respiration.

He could almost feel his own heartbeat.

Good. Anything to keep his other focused and calm.

Eddie woke in the middle of the afternoon, with the symbiote still resting its little slug head on his shoulder. The white spots on its face had constricted into curled slits. He could just barely make out one or two needle-like teeth where its mouth had formed and the tip of its tongue peeked out, a tiny pink dot. Eddie couldn't bring himself to move, with how calm and quiet it seemed...

But he really needed to go to the bathroom.

Like... badly.

He sighed a wordless apology, pressing his hand to the coil of black around his shoulder, and sat up. His sweetheart barely shifted, though its tongue flicked out to taste the skin of his palm, briefly, as he walked to the bathroom.

Before heading back to bed, Eddie ran some cool water over his hands and stroked that along his love's face. It curled tighter around him, like a weird scarf, and nudged his hand for more. So they spent a good minute or two standing in front of the sink, Eddie petting the symbiote with wet hands, and the symbiote occasionally licking beads of water from his fingers.

It was... cute.

Back to bed, TV still on.

The symbiote manifested larger, still a soft-featured tube but big enough to be held in Eddie's arms. And that seemed to be what it wanted. To lay beside him, half-underneath him, with his arms wrapped around it in a loose embrace over the rumpled sheets. It seemed, almost, to breathe against his chest... Expanding and sinking back on a steady beat to match Eddie's own breaths. So soft...

Three days later and it felt totally fine. A full recovery.

Eddie, on the other hand...

**Let's see a movie, Eddie!!**

Eddie groaned, hoarse and sniffling.

**Please!**

"I hate you."

But they both knew that wasn't true.

**Author's Note:**

> This is, in my head, set sometime after the events of the fic [Solar Plexus](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16516487). The implication being that Eddie got rewarded for rescuing a missing child lol--but at the same time I don't consider this "canon" to that series of events, really. It's just a fun side thing based on that timeline.
> 
> As far as sound and heat and stuff, I have like... literally 1000 words I wrote working my way through some headcanons/musings on how the Klyntar process shit... so I won't put that here. Suffice to say NORMALLY even really hot water is not a problem for Venom unless it's actually boiling. Same for movies. Normally would be fine, if a little annoyingly loud... not that uncomfortable. But you kno, when you're sick, everything is like 5000 times harder to put up with.
> 
> Also if you haven't seen the big soft noodly Venom from _Venom: The Hunger (1996)_... Well it's cute: 
> 
> ...man, they're so in love


End file.
